A Little More Normal
by TheDonutMistress
Summary: Post RE6. Leon. Claire. Coffee shop. Chit-chat. Some sarcasm. Possible angst and hints at them both carrying a torch for one another. Not an established couple fic, so you might want to look elsewhere if that's what you're in the mood for. Slight mention of Jake/Sherry. Giftfic for ItsTheFear, who is awesome. Better title, with many thanks to Mazzie May for the suggestion.


**Disclaimer:**** Capcom's, not mine. Trust me, it wouldn't have taken this long to put a dude in a sailor suit if Resident Evil belonged to me. **

**Giftfic for ****It's The Fear****, because she is epic and awesome and somehow kept talking to me even after I linked to her a story where Wesker impregnated Chris with a Hunter and they named Claire Jr. when it ripped out of Chris. LOLOL (It was seriously the best story in the universe.)**

**No smut. I'm sorry, love.**

**Title change, with thanks to Mazzie May for the suggestion!**

**Summary/rating:**** VERY MILD, somewhat angsty, aimless Leon-centric Leon and Claire interaction over coffee. Post RE6, with mentions of Jake/Sherry. No F-bombs! How'd I manage that? I think a T rating will suffice.**

**My Claire's observed to be a little... feisty and young-at-heart, but hopefully, I've shown she's a grown up, too. I well understand she's in her 30s now. I'm getting to be close to her age now and I sure as shit don't act like an adult unless I have to. **

**I like Leon. I like Claire. I like stories that feature them, whether they're just getting together, already a couple, or dealing with each other and facing issues with **_**other characters**_** at the same time (long as it's not some high school love triangle bullcrap). I consider these the **_**only**_** requirements for being a fan of the pairing. ****However, living up to the unspecified, thus unattainable vision that Asshole1234 on this here site has of the pairing is NOT a requirement for being a Leon/Claire fan.**

**XD Watch, someone's gonna flame me using that as their guest name now.**

* * *

It was a nice little coffee shop. Off the beaten path but still close enough to HQ that Leon could easily fit it into his routine. Sort of made him wonder why he'd never tried the place before. He could claim it wasn't his thing, but honestly, if they could hand him a decent cup of coffee and not take half of what was in his wallet in return, it was.

Oh, and coffee—_plain_ coffee, at least—was definitely one of his things.

He could pass on that sugary, syrupy, whipped cream covered crap—20-plus ounces of which Claire had just happily ordered "Blended, please," accepted, sipped, and declared, "Sex in frappe form. Oh my God, Leon. Seriously, you gotta try it."

Hard to believe this was the same woman he'd seen shotgun a beer at her own 30th birthday party four years back. And that was just to kick things off.

That was Claire, though. Walking a fine line seemed to be a Redfield trait. Whatever it was, she did it well. She could go from a glass of the cheapest draft—warm and flat—and hours spent yelling _over_ the music and _across_ a pool table in a dive bar, to champagne and rubbing elbows at each and every Terra Save event she was expected to attend. Somehow, she still had room in her repertoire for whatever the caramel colored monstrosity she was working on now was, and _Leon_.

Whether she thought she was working on him, too, though, Leon couldn't guess. Well, he could, but he didn't want to think too much on it, to be honest.

Still, none of it seemed like an act. All just pieces of the puzzle that was Claire Redfield. It was so much larger than he could've ever imagined, all those years ago.

This was actually the most time Leon and Claire had spent together _since_ her 30th birthday, come to think of it. He was busy, she was busy. It was a good excuse. Sometimes it was even true. Today was a rare exception in terms of scheduling for both of them. If he wasn't off to parts unknown, _she_ was.

Claire was the one to reach out whenever she was anywhere nearby. This time was no different. She'd called Leon and asked when he was free to get together and 'just hang out' because it'd been 'way too long'. Said she knew of the cutest little coffee place. She had business in the morning at Terra Save's D.C. office but was free after that.

If Leon was free too, it'd be perfect. They'd meet halfway.

Leon couldn't help but wonder if she wasn't hinting at something with _that_ remark.

"Inside?" she asked, suddenly, forcing Leon's mind back to the present. "Outside?"

He took a swig of his coffee. Black. And _hot_. Well, _he_ wasn't gonna be tasting anything for the rest of the day.

"Outside," Claire quickly decided, _without_ any input from him.

Leon chuckled a bit and motioned for her to lead the way.

They stepped outside of the coffee shop, Leon holding the door for Claire. She pulled her sunglasses down from their position atop her head and he was close enough he could smell her hair. He wasn't used to seeing her with it down. It was several inches past her shoulders, and very straight, but curling under just the tiniest bit at the tip. It made Leon wonder if Claire had done something to _straighten_ it. Her hair wasn't curly by any means, but he remembered it being wavier. Unless it was a flawed memory—something that just _seemed_ like it fit, like it suited Claire.

Suited her more than the idea of her taking the time to style her hair, anyway. Then again, he had to remind himself: Claire Redfield was Terra Save elite now, and had been for quite some time. The outfit set the tone for it, too. Dark gray striped blazer, off for now and slung over her shoulder, revealing a silky, ruffled, black spaghetti-strap tank top. The slacks were a perfect match for the blazer, and she was wearing heels.

She wasn't some 18 year old kid anymore. Hadn't been for more than a decade. Why did he need to keep reminding himself of that? He sure as hell wasn't his 22 year old self anymore.

Claire glanced back. "Where do you wanna sit?"

"Doesn't matter," Leon insisted.

"I'm not keeping you from anything, am I?"

"What? No, of course not."

"Alright." She smirked.

It was one of _those_ alright's.

Claire picked a table, indicating it had made the cut by pointing at it with her giant iced—correction, _blended_—coffee.

"_So—"_ Oh, she was gonna taunt him now. That was how it usually started. "How's the coffee?"

"It's coffee."

"Is it strong?"

"Enough."

"Bitter? Seems kinda bitter."

Leon laughed a bit. "It's fine."

"Because you're not really drinking it."

"We just sat down."

"_You_ scorched your tongue." Yup, she was definitely gonna taunt.

"It just needs a minute to cool off."

"Knew it." Claire smiled. "Here. Try mine."

"I'd rather not develop diabetes on the spot, thanks."

She laughed. It sounded more like a cackle. The laughter was genuine. The cackle-like quality was how Leon knew.

"Doesn't Terra Save partner with all kinds of health organizations around the world?"

"Yeah, of course. Why?" Claire looked and sounded truly curious.

"So, it's probably in bad form for their reigning goddess to put me into a diabetic coma."

Claire was quick to point out, "I'm not on the clock right now." How she could look both sweet and so utterly smug at the same time was remarkable. A moment later, though, her expression shifted to one of concern. "How about you?"

"What?" Leon couldn't help but be a bit confused by the question. He really didn't know what she was getting at.

"Work. You're _sure_ you're not busy right now?"

"I'm sure."

Claire nodded. She seemed satisfied. "So, how is it?"

"Work?"

She nodded again.

"It's... work."

"Yeah."

Leon would swear up and down he wouldn't have his life any other way now and he felt pretty confident in saying Claire felt the same way. A life free of regret still wasn't completely free of 'what ifs' though, was it? Or was that just sugar-coating it?

It had been a long, hard road for both of them, but they'd survived and had vowed to continue the fight. Claire had made the choice to take her stand _away_ from the frontlines, but by no means had she given up.

Something had changed inside of her after she came back from the Antarctic, all those years ago, something that somehow made her even more determined to be a savior. She joined Terra Save, taking on a less physical but equally emotional role in the war on bioterrorism, and human rights violations in general.

Claire had pulled the straw from her cup and was licking whipped cream from it. When she was done, she put the straw back, picked up the cup, shook and swirled it around a bit, then took another sip. As if sensing Leon's eyes on her, she murmured, "You're missing out."

A single bark of laughter, then Leon asked, "So, how'd you find out about this place?"

"Sherry. So now, we meet up here whenever we can. It's sort of our thing." Claire paused and took another sip of her drink. "Guess she spotted it when she was out with her _boyfriend_ and decided to give it a try."

There was no mistaking the teasing tone in Claire's voice when she spoke the word 'boyfriend' but it was airy and well-intentioned.

Leon didn't need to ask but the word still found its way out of his mouth. "Boyfriend?" It was decidedly less lighthearted than when Claire had said it.

"She's brought him along a couple of times, too. _Jake_. You two know each other, right?" By the way Claire tilted her head to the side when she posed her question, it was clear she already knew the answer and was just asking to see how Leon would respond.

"We've met," was Leon's attempt at an even-toned reply. It wasn't for harboring any sort of ill-will toward Jake. It was just... _really_?

"Seems like a decent guy, considering... well, just about everything," Claire mused.

"Yeah," Leon agreed, with a slight chuckle.

He didn't even know Jake was still in the U.S. Or back in the U.S. Or—oh, what'd it matter?

Still, who'd have thought the two of them would get together? Wasn't something Leon had given much thought. Or any thought at all, really. It was clear the kid was pretty protective of Sherry, back in Lanshiang, and for as headstrong as Jake clearly was, Sherry had no trouble getting him to quiet down and back off.

Seemed mutual, now that Leon forced himself to remember their first encounter in a little more detail. Sherry, calling out to him then running up once she was sure it was him and proudly declaring she was on protective detail. There was no denying the sincerity in her voice when she said it.

Leon supposed Sherry and Jake formed a bond something like he and Claire had, for the things they'd faced together, the way they'd been forced into that all-too-familiar position of having to trust a perfect stranger with your life. It wasn't a situation a person could just walk away from unchanged.

But it was one a person _could_ walk away from; Leon knew _he_ was proof of that. Claire, too. And he's just learned that Sherry and Jake were proof it _didn't_ have to be that way.

"Seems pretty... I dunno... serious." Claire was talking again.

"Yeah?" Leon asked.

"Fancy government job—" She paused to shrug, ever-so-slightly. "Her own place—well, I guess it's technically _their_ place now. But her own place and a big, strong boyfriend who she's totally got wrapped around her little finger. I mean—"

Leon let out a little chuckle. He might not go that far, but Jake's willingness to—hell, just cooperate with Sherry proved she was definitely something special to him. Claire was right about that.

Claire exaggerated a sigh. Then she smirked. "Our little Sherry's all grown up."

Leon meant to say, 'She's well into her twenties now,' but somehow, "That makes one of us," was what ended up coming out.

Claire laughed into her coffee. Then she nodded, a small, wistful smile forming on her face. After a moment, she tried to ask, "Do you ever think about...?"

Although Claire left the question unfinished, left him hanging, Leon still felt like he was cutting her off when he insisted, "I try not to."

"Are you happy with your life?"

He did it again. "I have a good life."

"That's not what I asked."

Leon scoffed, but did his best to make it sound lighthearted. Claire'd caught him, alright, trying to evade the question—give a half-assed answer, at least. An answer most people would've just let slide, taken as a 'yes' and moved on.

But not Claire.

Because Claire wasn't most people.

"What's with the third degree, huh?" Leon asked, throwing a smirk on the end. Maybe he could turn it around on her.

Claire rested her chin on her hands and mused, "You would've made detective by now, huh? With your skills—easy. And_ you'd_ be the one giving people the third degree, not me."

"No, I bet you'd still be the one doing it."

With a smirk, Claire conceded, "In an unofficial capacity, perhaps." She took a deep breath. Not quite a sigh. Claire didn't do desperate—just thoughtful. "I'd be... Hey, now. I thought you tried not to think about this anymore."

In a hushed tone—hardly above a whisper—Leon urged, "No, go on."

Very softly, as if trying to match both Leon's volume and current demeanor, Claire continued, "I'd be... a highly successful photographer. Well, I'd have a degree, at least."

"Yeah? That's what you were going to school for?"

"Yup. Then I was gonna travel the country on my bike and just... take pictures."

"Of what?"

"Everything."

Leon chuckled. That sounded like the Claire of old. He saw her now and again, even these days. "Sell your work along the way? And just ride the wind as long as you could?"

"I figured I'd have to turn tricks on the side to help make ends meet. Starving artist and all."

That earned Claire a laugh—a real one—from Leon. Turning serious, he insisted, "You know, you can still take pictures."

"I know. I do."

"Of what?"

"Stuff. Just stuff that looks interesting." She shrugged and sipped at what was left of her coffee. It was little more than foam and deflated whipped cream at this point, with the odd streak of caramel sauce stuck to the side of the cup.

"Stuff that looks interesting...?" Leon couldn't help but echo.

"Yeah. Just stuff that looks like it'd make a good picture."

It made enough sense, he had to admit. And even if it didn't, he had a feeling he wasn't gonna get more of a _verbal_ explanation out of Claire. Besides, that was kind of the whole point of pictures anyway, wasn't it? Picture is worth a thousand words and all.

Claire did, however, attempt to elaborate. Sort of. "Like I should've taken a picture of this before I started drinking it." She shook at her nearly empty drink cup.

"You're not one of those people, are you?" Leon raised an eyebrow.

"Nah. Not really. See, if I was sitting _way_ over there, at another table, and you were just here by yourself, I'd have taken a picture of you."

"What?" Leon couldn't completely contain his surprise.

"Easily the most interesting thing here. People-wise, anyway."

He didn't push it. Claire would explain herself if she cared to.

"Broody, good looking guy with a _plain_ cup of coffee at a place like this, totally absorbed in his... whatever."

"How would you know it's plain coffee?"

"Observation." She grabbed at Leon's cup, then her own. She placed them side by side, then turned them both, slightly, so Leon could compare the scribbles on each cup.

Well, she had him there. Compared to his cup, Claire's looked like it'd been tagged.

"Anyway, broody, good looking guy with a plain cup of coffee at a place like this—"

Leon gave Claire a look—somewhere between just curious and 'what are you trying to pull?'—but didn't say anything. No soft words urging her to continue this time, no matter how much he may have wanted to utter them.

She didn't miss a beat, though. "I'd have had to _make up_ a story to go with... you, of course. Because if I were over there, it'd mean I didn't know you."

"A story? To go with me? This oughtta be good."

"Hmm." Claire paused, and cradled her chin in her hands, but looked up—way up. "Or not. Maybe I'd just leave it alone."

Then Leon decided he'd do it. Entertain Claire's notion, or maybe it was his and he just didn't want to admit it. This _was_ what she was getting at, though, wasn't it? "Maybe I'm a detective."

"It fits, since I'm a photographer. I get it." Claire took a moment. "Maybe I should just leave it a mystery then, because I don't know you."

"You'd have to approach me to get me to get my okay if you wanted to use the picture for anything, wouldn't you?"

Way to ruin the moment, Kennedy.

"It's not like I was planning on titling my photographic masterpiece Broody Detective, though. Just Broody Coffee Guy or something."

"Nice," Leon muttered.

"Kinda like... this!" And her phone was up from its position on the tabletop and in her hands in record time, the camera flash was going off, and she was murmuring, "I gotta say, I had higher hopes for you, Broody Coffee Guy."

Leon grabbed at the phone, let out a little, "Tch," and quickly followed it up with, "Don't quit your day job."

"I'm not planning on it," Claire insisted, with a wry smile.

Understanding her meaning, Leon said, "Me either," and allowed Claire to reclaim her phone.

Within about a second, she was tapping on her touch screen. "...And _save as contact photo_. Yes, I want to override."

Leon stood up suddenly, without warning.

Claire looked up, her surprise evident by the look on her face—the slight parting of her lips and the wide-eyed expression she wore. She'd made a point to take off her sunglasses to look Leon in the eyes. "I—this wasn't really bad enough to drive you away, was it?"

He chuckled and leaned in. He pointed at the phone. "You can do that whenever you like, you know."

"Ambush you and take bad pictures of you? Or _contact you_?"

Leon rolled his eyes. "What do you think?"

"I don't know, Broody Coffee Guy. We just met and all."

"Funny."

Gone was the cheery, joking Claire of a moment before. She quietly admitted, "Sometimes I think I just met you, or that I only know you as well as someone I've just met. The only time we act like we really know each other is when we talk about Sherry, or Chris, or someone else we both know. Or Raccoon City."

Leon nodded, but it was a moment before he spoke. "Alright. I get it. I gotta go. And no, your bad picture, and the fact that you renamed me Broody Coffee Guy in your phone—yeah, I noticed that—didn't drive me away."

"No, of course not." She wasn't buying it.

"It didn't."

"But the truth is, if it wasn't for Raccoon City, I really wouldn't know you at all. So... _you_ can 'contact' _me_, whenever _you_ like, okay?"

Leon nodded again. There was no misunderstanding what Claire meant with that. No missing her point. Wasn't any disagreeing with it, either. She had every right to call him out. She wasn't the eternally unavailable one when it came to the two of them. To suggest they shared equal blame was letting himself off pretty damn easy and he knew it.

Turns out, Claire knew it, too.

Seemed there was only one more thing to do, then.

Leon reached into his pocket for his phone, slyly tapped the camera button with his thumb as he raised it, and let the flash and the stupid fake shutter click punctuate his response. "Okay."

* * *

**A/N: We know that in RE6, Sherry and Jake may have been in the same facility for six months, but were kept away from each other—still strangers in a lot of ways. Leon's surprise over just seeing Sherry in Lanshiang hints that he didn't know what she'd been up to besides hearing that she 'became an agent'. Kinda makes you wonder if he even knew she was missing at all...**

**Piers was the only one with that info, for some reason.**

**Anyhow, I doubt Leon's the type to keep up on everyday 'OMG Sherry has a man!' gossip, now that they're stateside again. They're all adults, after all, lest we sometimes forget to treat them that way.**

**I hope I haven't failed too terribly in that regard. (I'm sure I'll hear all about it if I have…)**

**And I know Sherry says that Jake's info was classified, but I'm bettin' Claire was told who he was, if not by Sherry then by Chris. You know, obvious physical resemblance to contend with and all.**


End file.
